INSTINCT AND REASON 



393 



(Figs. 239 and 240). Young mocking-birds will go into 

 spasms at the sight of an owl or a cat, while they pay little 

 attention to a dog or a hen. Monkeys that have never 

 seen a snake show almost hysterical fear at first sight of 

 one, and the same kind of feeling is common to most 

 men. A monkey was allowed to open a paper bag which 



FIG. 239. Nestlings of the American bittern. Two of a brood of four birds one week 

 old, at which age they showed no fear of man. Photograph by E. H. TABOR, 

 Meridian, N. Y., May 31, 1898. (Permission of Macmillan Company, publishers of 

 Bird-Lore.) 



contained a live snake. He was staggered by the sight, 

 but after a while went back and looked in again, to repeat 

 the experience. Each wild animal has its special instinct 

 of resistance or method of keeping off its enemies. The 

 stamping of a sheep, the kicking of a horse, the running 

 in a circle of a hare, and the skulking in a circle of some 

 foxes, are examples of this sort of instinct. 

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